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Acronym for "College Preperatory Mathematics." A non functional method for teaching middle and high school level math.

Instead of actual textbooks, CPM classes use cheap paperbound workbooks that have absolutely nothing useful in them. While real textbooks include instructions, tables, equations, and examples that make it possible to learn by book alone, CPM books usually have none. CPM also places emphasis on (barely) supervised groupwork in the hopes that it helps students visualize mathematical concepts. Actually, all it does is destroy a student's ability to work on his/her own.

Teachers of such classes assume that CPM workbooks actually are textbooks and so don't really bother instructing students.

The Urban Dictionary Mug

CPM, n. Also spelled CP/M. An acronym for "Control Program for Microprocessors", CP/M was a text-based operating system popular in the late 70s and early 80s. Developed for Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 machines, it was also ported to x86. Utterly destroyed by MS/DOS (which was derived from CP/M) and IBM's x86 PCs (The PC, XT, and AT). This was the OS used on the famous Osborne portable computers, remembered both for being the first portables, and having a screen smaller than a postcard.